The area of distribution of the golden-headed lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysomelas), a primate endemic to southern Bahia, is characterized by patches of mature and regenerating forests, as well as agroforestry crops where cacao is planted in the shade of native Atlantic Forest trees. However, the area is already small and has faced the same deforestation that caused the species to disappear from northern Minas Gerais state in the not-too-distant past. Over the last 30 years, the range of the primate, also known as the Bahia’s lion tamarin, has been reduced by approximately 42%, from 22,700-13,215 square kilometers (8,765-5,102 square miles), while its population has dropped by around 60%. It is estimated there are between 16,000 and 21,000 individuals in the wild in southern Bahia, most of them in the municipality of Ilhéus. The data are part of biologist Joanison Vicente dos Santos Teixeira’s doctoral thesis. He is the executive director and head of research at the Almada Mata Atlântica Project (AMAP), a German-Brazilian environmental organization that has funded scientific projects and actions to protect the golden-headed lion tamarin, a symbol of the institution and its flagship project. The small primate sleeps in hollow parts of native tree trunks. It moves around in groups of 5-11 individuals that avoid repeating resting places to escape predators. This interesting characteristic requires permanent efforts to find shelter and food in forest patches that have been shrinking outside protected areas, due to pressure from livestock farming, intensification of management in cabrucas (traditional cacao agroforestry systems)…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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